


Fix You

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Bad Things Happen - Dick Grayson [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angry Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Crying, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, F/M, Hallucinations, Jason Todd Swears, Paralysis, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), Worried Bruce Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: CAN ONLY MOVE THE EYESScarecrow has developed a new fear toxin. On a patrol, Dick gets hit with it and it's up to his family to calm him down before his heart gives out.





	Fix You

“Wait a second. So it literally paralyzes you?” 

Tim nodded at Dick’s question. 

“Yeah. From what we understand, Scarecrow isn’t satisfied with just scaring people to death. This toxin, keeps them in one place, usually making them have a heart attack.” 

Batman stood up from his chair and pulled his cowl on. 

“This means you all need to be extremely careful. Dick, Tim. You two are on rescue tonight. If you find someone hit with the toxin, give them the antidotum we have. It might work. And try to not get in any fights. Damian. Since Alfred is away, you’re staying here. We need someone back in the base to coordinate everything and stay in contact with Gordon.” 

Damian didn’t seem happy with that decision, but kept quiet when he noticed the look Dick gave him. 

“What about you?” 

Bruce stood up a bit straighter. 

“I’m going after Scarecrow.” 

Without another word, he got into the Batmobile and drove out of the cave. Dick walked over to his motorcycle and sat on the seat. 

“Come on Tim. I’ll drop you off near the hospital and then head to the other side of the city. Dami, keep us updated, huh?” 

The boy nodded, pulling his mask off as he walked over to the chair. 

“Be careful, Grayson.” 

Dick smiled. 

“Sure thing, Little D.” 

Tim sat down behind him and they took off. Tim was forced to hold onto Dick with all his might as the older boy sped through the streets. They stopped a few alleys away from the hospital and Tim quickly got off the seat, looking slightly green. Dick frowned at him. 

“What?” 

Tim shook his head. 

“Nothing. But I’m never riding with you again. Even Jason is more careful.”

Dick grinned. 

“Love you too, Timmy.” 

And he sped off before Tim could protest against the nickname. He drove across the city, barely having time to take in the surroundings because of his speed. Ten minutes later, he had gotten to the opposite side of Gotham and locked his bike, knowing that an unlocked vehicle would be too much of a temptation for the criminals. He made his way up to the roof and looked over the city, when he suddenly heard Jason’s voice in his earpiece. 

“Red Hood to Batcave.” 

Damian answered with an emotionless voice, Dick smiling when he understood that the boy was masking his surprise that way. 

“Batcave here. What’s wrong?” 

Jason’s voice was slightly amused when he spoke up. 

“Hell Spawn. It’s been a while. Aren’t you…” 

“Red Hood.” 

Batman’s voice cut him off. 

“Bats.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

Bruce’s voice was almost as emotionless as Damian’s. Jason sounded irritated when he answered.

“The new fear toxin is messing with my shipments. People are dropping left and right. Two hours ago, one of my men contacted me because his daughter got hit with it. Kid is just six years old. We got her to the hospital and they managed to keep her alive until it passed. It was active for one hour. I decided to go out and help you out to find that stupid rag.” 

Dick frowned. 

“And the girl?” 

“They’re keeping her in the hospital for the night, but she should recover fully. I gave her the antidotum, but it didn’t do anything. You just have to wait it out.” 

Everyone was quiet for a long moment, before Bruce spoke up again. 

“Keep to non-lethal force, if you’re working with us.” 

A snort could be heard. 

“Not my fault if they just happen to get shot in the head.” 

No answer came, so Dick just stood up from where he had been crouching and started jumping between buildings. They worked together in harmony, Damian occasionally giving them information from the police. Two hours later, Dick landed on a roof and looked around. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Feeling slightly unnerved by that, he opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Jason suddenly cursing up a storm. 

“Fuck! Shit! Fucking hell! Where the hell are you, you sick motherfucker?!” 

A few gunshots were heard through the comms, before Jason grunted. 

“Stupid idiot.” 

“What’s going on, Hood?”

Damian’s voice was calm and slightly bored. 

“Some fucker hit me with the gas. My mask filtered the toxin out of the air, but it stinks like rotten eggs.” 

Dick smiled. 

“Maybe you should put a scent filter in it too.” 

“Yeah. It would be needed. I’ll drop this one off at the hospital and then come back.” 

The comms got quiet again and Dick sighed. There was nothing to do. They had picked up everyone who had been infected and, after not being able to find Scarecrow, Batman had put them on normal patrols. He perked up when he heard a noise behind him. Spinning around, his eyes widened when he saw Scarecrow standing in the middle of the roof. The man was grinning madly and Dick spoke into his comm. 

“Batman. I’ve got Scarecrow here. I’m on…” 

He was cut off when he was forced to jump to the side to avoid being slashed by the scythe. He pulled out his Escrima Sticks and attacked, being careful to not get too close to the sharp weapon. He still had scars after the last criminal who decided to use a sword of all things. Damian had berated him for being so careless afterwards and insisted on training with his sword for a few days afterwards, to make sure that Dick could avoid getting hit by it. As he fought, he heard Damian’s voice telling Batman what their positions were. He saw the man out of the corner of his eye and was distracted for long enough to not notice what Scarecrow was doing. Seconds later, he got a big dose of fear gas sprayed in his face. Scarecrow laughed and quickly left the roof. Just as the door closed behind him, Batman landed next to Dick. Nightwing looked at him with big eyes, before his entire body shook and he fell to the ground. Bruce fell to his knees next to him, not sure what to do. Dick’s body was convulsing, before he completely stilled. His eyes opened wide and he whimpered. Bruce put his hand on his shoulder, only for Dick to whimper again. Everything around him was bright. He could see the roof of the Big Top over him. He was lying on the net, watching Damian, Tim, Jason and Babs flying through the air over him. He tried to smile, but he couldn’t move the muscles in his face. He could only lay there and watch. Jason laughed as he grabbed Babs and passed her to Tim. One more swing and she was safe on the platform. Tim swung himself a few times, before jumping over to Jason. The man grabbed him and swung him over to the opposite platform. Tim landed and Dick let out a relieved breath, only to hold it again when Damian walked up to the platform. He noticed the ropes holding Jason’s trapeze starting to let go and wanted to shout at them, tell them to watch out. And, suddenly, he wasn’t on the net anymore. It was gone and he was laying on the grass. Above him, Damian smiled widely and waved his hand a few times, before jumping out into the air. Jason grabbed his hands and Dick closed his eyes, knowing what would happen next. He heard the ropes snap and Damian’s terrified scream, followed by Jason’s startled cry. He felt tears slip down his face and whimpered again. 

“Dick! Dick, look at me!” 

He opened his eyes slowly, recognizing the voice as Bruce’s. But, as soon as he saw him, he wished he hadn’t looked up. Batman was glaring down at him with fury in his eyes. He tried to turn his head, but couldn’t move. Before Bruce could say anything, they both heard a pair of boots landing heavily on the roof. Bruce looked up and nodded, moving a bit to the side to let Dick see the person who was now walking towards them. In the darkness that had enveloped him, all Dick could see was a tall, muscular figure and a helmet. If his body hadn’t already been paralyzed, he would have frozen. Deathstroke. It had to be. He glanced over to Batman and saw a disgusted look on his face. So this was it. Bruce had finally realized how weak he was. He was giving him away to Slade. He tried to say something, plead for forgiveness, but nothing came out. All he could do was cry harder as Deathstroke approached him. The mercenary crouched down next to him and put his hand on his chest. 

“He’s starting to get freaked out.” 

The voice didn’t really fit in. It was different than what he remembered. He looked more carefully at the mask. There was something wrong with it, but he couldn’t really pinpoint it. He felt his heart start beating faster and faster. Was he going to pass out? Why couldn’t he move? Had Bruce given him something paralytic to make sure he couldn’t run away? 

“Richard?” 

Damian. But where? He looked around as much as he could, before he realized that he had an earpiece in his ear. 

“Richard. Listen to me. Listen carefully. You have many flaws. And there are times when I honestly hate you for trying to help me. I don’t understand what you see in me. Why you’re trying to save me. But, out of the whole bunch, you are the least irritating.” 

Damian’s voice managed to calm him down a bit. This wasn’t anything new. Damian had said all those things before. 

“Robin.” 

Batman’s angry voice growled next to him. Deathstroke tilted his head, his hand still on Dick’s chest. Meanwhile, Damian kept talking. 

“You can’t cook for shit, and one day you’re going to poison us all. You are having way too many relationships with those trollops of yours and, honestly, I hate most of them. They are annoying and I hate walking in on you fucking someone almost every time I visit you in Bludhaven. Although you have been keeping to that alien princess lately so that’s a bit better.” 

He felt some of the paralysis let go and he could suddenly move his mouth. Quickly, he looked over to Batman and started talking. 

“Bruce. Please. Don’t let him take me away. I’m sorry that I’m such a failure. I… I’ll do better. I can stay in the mansion and help Alfred. I’ll train every day without a word of complaint. I… I’ll do anything. Just don’t let him take me away.” 

Bruce moved closer, the angry look still on his face. 

“Dick. You…” 

Deathstroke cut him off. 

“Stop. I think I understand.” 

He moved his hand up to Dick’s face, turning his head so that he was looking at the mask. Very slowly, he put his other hand up and pulled the helmet off. Dick felt surprise when he didn’t see the white hair he expected. Instead, he saw black hair with a white strip and a pair of concerned eyes. 

“Dick. It’s me. Jason.” 

Jason. But it couldn’t be. Jason was dead. He saw him die. He saw him fall. Him and Damian. But how was Damian talking in his ear then? Was he hearing voices? 

“You’re dead. You fell.” 

He heard another person land on the ground and tried to look there, but he still couldn’t lift his head so he was stuck. The person spoke up and he recognized the voice as Tim’s. 

“I swung by the hospital. It should be working.” 

Dick felt a sticking sensation in his arm, before everything became black. 

***********

Dick woke up with a grunt. He felt as if something had hit him in the head. Very slowly, his memories came back to him. Scarecrow, the toxin, Batman, Deathstroke. No. Not Deathstroke. Jason.

“I know you’re awake.” 

He opened his eyes and looked to the side, where Damian was sitting. 

“Little D?” 

Damian nodded, a serious look on his face. 

“How are you feeling? Drake was rushing to get the antidotum done, so we weren't sure how it would work.” 

Dick sat up slowly and shrugged. 

“My head hurts. Other than that, I’m fine.” 

He took a deep breath. 

“You calmed me down. How did you know?” 

Damian rolled his eyes. 

“That was easy. The fear toxin turns everything good into bad. It makes you fear things. I told you all the bad things, knowing that it would mess up the toxin’s effects.” 

He stood up and nodded. 

“I’ll leave now. Father should be here soon. He wanted to talk to you, so don’t go anywhere.” 

He walked over to the door, before turning around and smiling slightly. 

“Oh, and about you and Starfire.” 

Dick tensed up. Whatever anyone believed, he really cared about what Damian thought. 

“I approve.” 

And he left. The older boy grinned and shouted after him: 

“I’ll make sure to tell her!” 

He closed his eyes, only to open them when he felt a new presence in the room. Bruce was standing next to his bed, clearly thinking about something very hard. Dick pointed to the chair Damian had left and Bruce sat down. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Dick giving the older man time to collect his thoughts. 

“I managed to get Jason to explain everything to me.” 

Dick forced himself to relax. 

“About what?” 

Maybe this wasn’t what he had expected. 

“About you and Deathstroke.” 

Alright. This was exactly what he had expected. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and opened his mouth, but Bruce didn’t let him speak. 

“We’re going to talk about that later. What I want to know, is why you would ever think I would let Wilson take you away.” 

Dick closed his eyes. 

“I… I guess I’ve always waited for the other shoe to drop. When we had that big argument, and I ran away to Jump City, I thought that it was over. But you let me be Robin and the only thing that changed was that I got a team. It was a bit tougher the second time, before I became Nightwing, but we managed to mend things in the end. But… I don’t know. I’ve always had a fear that I wasn’t enough and that you would send me away.” 

He felt Bruce place a hand on his knee and opened his eyes to look at him. 

“Listen to me, Dick. And listen carefully. You are the best person I’ve ever known. You saved me, all those years ago, when you started living here. I was in a very dark place and I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for you. You’re my son, Dick. Just as much as Jason, Tim and Damian. Maybe even more. Whenever people turn away from me, I know I will always have you. We’re family. And, even if I did for some reason decide that I needed to send you away, I would never send you to Slade Wilson. Do you understand me?” 

Without a word, Dick moved forward and hugged Bruce. After slight hesitation, Bruce hugged him back. Dick was feeling a lightness he didn’t know he could feel anymore. Bruce was his father. They were family. He had a family. As they pulled away, an odd grin appeared on Bruce’s face. 

“Now then. Damian mentioned something about an alien princess.” 

Dick groaned and sunk down into a lying position. He wondered if it would be possible to pretend to fall asleep just like that. He could always say it was after the toxin. But, seeing Bruce’s face, he knew it would not work. So, with a sigh, he started talking. 

“Her name is Koriand’r. She is from…” 

Outside the door, Jason and Alfred exchanged smiles, before the former put his helmet on and left the cave, heading towards the docks where he hoped the newest shipment had arrived as planned. 


End file.
